John Robertson (footballer, born 1953)
.jpg) Robertson in 1980 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Neilson Robertson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 20 January 1953[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Viewpark, Lanarkshire, Scotland[2] | ||
| Date of death | 25 December 2025 (aged 72) | ||
| Position(s) | Left winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1970–1983 | Nottingham Forest | 386 | (61) |
| 1983–1985 | Derby County | 72 | (3) |
| 1985–1986 | Nottingham Forest | 11 | (0) |
| Total | 469 | (64) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978–1983 | Scotland | 28 | (8) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Neilson Robertson (20 January 1953 – 25 December 2025) was a Scottish professional footballer. He played as a left winger for Nottingham Forest and Derby County. With Nottingham Forest, he notably assisted Trevor Francis's goal in the 1979 European Cup final against Malmö FF, and scored in the 1980 European Cup final against Hamburger SV.[3] His transfer to Derby County in June 1983 was consider controversal, and helped worsen relations between Brian Clough and his former assistant Peter Taylor.[4] He was also capped 28 times for Scotland, scoring eight goals,[5] and playing for them at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups.
After retiring from football, he became an assistant manager under his former Nottingham Forest teammate Martin O'Neill at Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa.[6]
Robertson died on 25 December 2025, at the age of 72, following a long illness.[7] He had previously had a suspected heart attack while playing tennis with former teammate Liam O'Kane in August 2013.[8]
Personal life
Robertson's daughter Jessica was born in 1983 with cerebral palsy, which left her quadriplegic and not able to speak or control her movements. In 1994, Robertson and his former wife Sally challenged the hospital where Jessica was born for damages, and claimed that they had caused her brain damage by a 12-hour delay to carry out a Caesarean section. They lost their High Court case.[9]
He released his autobiography, Supertramp, in September 2012. He supported Rangers as a boy, but described his time at Celtic as assistant to Martin O'Neill as the best years of his life in football.[10]
In 2015, Robertson was voted first place in a poll by the Nottingham Post of favourite all-time Nottingham Forest players.[11]
Career statistics
Club
| Club[12] | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[A] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Nottingham Forest | 1970–71 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1971–72 | First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| 1972–73 | Second Division | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 4 | |||
| 1973–74 | Second Division | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 1974–75 | Second Division | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| 1975–76 | Second Division | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 45 | 5 | |||
| 1976–77 | Second Division | 41 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 9 | 2 | 57 | 11 | ||
| 1977–78 | First Division | 42 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | — | — | 56 | 18 | |||
| 1978–79 | First Division | 42 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 63 | 16 | |
| 1979–80 | First Division | 42 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 65 | 19 | |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 38 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 9 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 42 | 3 | |||
| 1982–83 | First Division | 34 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | — | — | 40 | 9 | |||
| Total | 386 | 61 | 35 | 10 | 47 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 14 | 3 | 502 | 95 | ||
| Derby County | 1983–84 | Second Division | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 2 | ||
| 1984–85 | Third Division | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | ||
| Total | 72 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 85 | 4 | |||
| Nottingham Forest | 1985–86 | First Division | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 469 | 64 | 41 | 10 | 53 | 17 | 20 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 599 | 99 | ||
- A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the FA Charity Shield, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Trophy, European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.
International
| Scotland national team[5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1978 | 4 | 0 |
| 1979 | 5 | 2 |
| 1980 | 3 | 0 |
| 1981 | 7 | 4 |
| 1982 | 7 | 1 |
| 1983 | 2 | 1 |
| Total | 28 | 8 |
International goals
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 June 1979 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo |  Norway | 3–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying |
| 2. | 19 December 1979 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | .svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | 1–3 | 1–3 | UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying |
| 3. | 28 April 1981 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Israel | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4. | 2–0 | |||||
| 5. | 23 May 1981 | Wembley Stadium, London |  England | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1981 British Home Championship |
| 6. | 9 September 1981 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Sweden | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7. | 15 June 1982 | Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga |  New Zealand | 4–2 | 5–2 | 1982 FIFA World Cup |
| 8. | 21 September 1983 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Uruguay | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
Honours
- Nottingham Forest
- First Division: 1977–78[13]
- League Cup: 1977–78, 1978–79[13]
- FA Charity Shield: 1978[13]
- European Cup: 1978–79, 1979–80[13]
- European Super Cup: 1979[13]
- Anglo-Scottish Cup: 1976–77[13]
- Individual
References
- 1 2 "John Robertson". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
- ↑ Robertson, John (2011). John Robertson: Supertramp – My Autobiography. Mainstream Publishing Company (EDINBURGH) LTD. ISBN 9781780572345.
- ↑ "John Robertson: Nottingham Forest legend remembered". UEFA.com. 25 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ↑ McNulty, Phil (25 December 2025). "Forest fulcrum Robertson - a talented, highly skilled, unbelievable outside-left". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- 1 2 John Robertson profile National Football Teams
- ↑ Luckhurst, Josh (25 December 2025). "Former Nottingham Forest and Scotland winger John Robertson dies aged 72". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ↑ Nakrani, Sachin (2025-12-25). "John Robertson, Nottingham Forest and Scotland legend, dies aged 72". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-12-25.
- ↑ This is Derbyshire
- ↑ "Footballer in court appeal". The Herald. 6 June 1996. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
- ↑ Mark Guidi (11 November 2011). "John Robertson: If Martin O'Neill calls up I'll be back in football in a minute". Daily Record. Media Scotland. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
- ↑ "Nottingham Forest top 5 players of all-time: John Robertson simply the best". Nottinghamshire Post. Local World. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ↑ John Robertson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Honours". Nottingham Forest FC. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- 1 2 Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 141.
Other websites
- John Robertson at the Scottish Football Association
- John Robertson international stats LondonHearts.com
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